Mobo, CPU + Ram Upgrade

prof. genki

prof. genki

prof. genki

Associate
Joined
20 Sep 2012
Posts
11
I'm currently running:

Vista 64
Asus m4n2-sli am2
Athlon x2 64 5200
4gb ddr2
GTX 460 750mb
WD 750gb
Hitachi 250gb
OCZ 500w
Phillips 22"

EDIT: Fan - Zalman 13cm 2-bearing with a giant copper cage, cools well but sounds like a blender, on 50% it matches the GTX fan. I would consider upgrading it if I'd need a new one for a new CPU, if stock ones aren't sufficient these days.

I've never really had much issues with it as I'm a few years behind in playing through games (stupid steam sales) so I'm not needing to max out skyrim, but I'm catching up to things like Borderlands and Saints Row 3 which don't run amazingly and freeze/lag. General running for browsing and using office is also starting to become a real pain, freezing for a few seconds about every 10 minutes with CPU spikes. (99% sure virus free)

The GPU, HD and monitor are all only around a year old, so I was only really looking at replacing the processor, but even getting the best I can for my current motherboard is a bit pointless.

So, I am after recommendations for a suitable motherboard and processor combo to match my GPU, plus 4gb vs 8gb ram. I will graduate in a year and hopefully be earning a bit more money and maybe in 18 months sell my current rig and do a better build.

Budget - under £200 seems reasonable considering I'm not after a top end CPU, although I'm not sure if I really need a very good motherboard either, for example if I need to spend £30 or £80.

Thanks for looking.
 
Last edited:
Hi and welcome.

Are all your drives SATA? modern boards dont have the older IDE (ribbon cable) connectors anymore.
 
There you go for 200 quid this should get you started


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £199.93 (includes shipping : FREE).




However personally if you can stretch the extra 80 quid it will pay off over time

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £184.99
1 x MSI Z77A-G43 Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £71.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £284.98 (includes shipping : FREE).

 
Last edited:
little bit over


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £215.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).




or


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £187.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).




Top option has better mboard however if your going to get a new rig in a year or so's time and won't want to upgrade anything else in this rig. i would suggest going for the low option as you wont see any real perfomance or advantages from more expensive board.
 
dunn2010 said:
little bit over


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-DS3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £75.98
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £215.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).




or


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28
Total : £187.33 (includes shipping : £9.50).




Top option has better mboard however if your going to get a new rig in a year or so's time and won't want to upgrade anything else in this rig. i would suggest going for the low option as you wont see any real perfomance or advantages from more expensive board.
Click to expand...


stulid said:
This board instead of the above options - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-391-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261
Click to expand...

Thanks very much guys, it seems pretty unanimous on the processor then! Its very new though isn't it? Will it be overkill for my card or is it the budget i3 to go for? How does it compare to the phenom II X6 1045T or the fx-6200, as these were immediately above on CPU benchmarks and seem to come in a little cheaper or at least the same price?

Stuie I don't really want to spend much more, it will probably be overkill for use at the moment and by the time it does prove its worth I might be rebuilding/spending more anyway.

With regard to motherboards, why is there so much variance in price? I always viewed them as a bit of pci board you plug your expensive bits into. As said above, if I'm wouldn't see noticeable performance and not overclocking would either of these be sufficient to shave off a few £?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-381-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-400-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=

stuie said:
Oh Id also add that getting and ssd even just a small one for os and games will help no end
Click to expand...

I've thought about it, they keep popping up so cheap its getting temping, but how small is small, what would be the minimum sensible SDD?

Sorry about all the questions but I haven't done a real upgrade/build before and I like to measure twice and cut once.
 
A few little facts,

• To be able to overclock a "K" CPU fully you need a P67/Z68/Z77 board (the later is obviously newer chipset and has some enhancements other the Z68 such as native USB3.0 support).

• You also will want one of the above chipsets to be able to do "limited mutli overclocking" on CPU's with Turbboost.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,review-32090-9.html

• The H77 chipset may do this "Limited turbo overclocking" also, but I cant find a definite yes or no answer.

But as you say you wont overclock (you cant with a i3 anyways) thats irrelevant.

The Gigabyte H61 D3V is pretty sweet, it also has SATAIII via a third party chip (better than not having it at all) and USB3.0 on the rear (again from an extra chip)
 
stulid said:
A few little facts,

• To be able to overclock a "K" CPU fully you need a P67/Z68/Z77 board (the later is obviously newer chipset and has some enhancements other the Z68 such as native USB3.0 support).

• You also will want one of the above chipsets to be able to do "limited mutli overclocking" on CPU's with Turbboost.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,review-32090-9.html

• The H77 chipset may do this "Limited turbo overclocking" also, but I cant find a definite yes or no answer.

But as you say you wont overclock (you cant with a i3 anyways) thats irrelevant.

The Gigabyte H61 D3V is pretty sweet, it also has SATAIII via a third party chip (better than not having it at all) and USB3.0 on the rear (again from an extra chip)
Click to expand...


Ah I see, interesting thanks.

Is that mobo ok in that it is 1333 and the ram is 1600?
 
 
stulid said:
The RAM will just operate at 1333Mhz.
Click to expand...

Would it make sense to get 1333Mhz ram then? Or if I do get 1600, get a board that makes use of of all it?

Idleman said:
This for future cpu upgrade

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £26.99
Total : £223.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).



Or this for the short.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i3-3220 3.30GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £99.95
1 x Gigabyte H61MA-D3V Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £47.99
1 x OcUK Value 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit £26.99
Total : £186.32 (includes shipping : £9.50).

Click to expand...


Thanks, it is very tempting to future proof myself a bit but I really think I'll end up selling this upgraded rig as a whole or giving it to a relative in a year or 2 and build a new one from scratch with a decent budget, something I've always wanted to do.


With that in mind I'm thinking about maybe not spending £200 now and going quite a bit cheaper, as long as there is a reasonable improvement on my current CPU. Maybe something along the lines of a pentium/celeron sandy bridge about £50, £30 mobo and then the budget 8gb DDR3 on top? If there is really no value in going cheaper for minor gains I can live with paying the extra.

However my other concern with getting a more powerful processor and motherboard is power. I forgot as I never use it that I've had to disconnect my dvd drive because but when I have the 460 plugged in, I don't seem to get enough power to boot, according to the motherboard beeping pattern. This wasn't an issue on my 8600gt and I know the 460 is a power hungry card, butI don't really want to have to get a £60+ PSU on top of everything else.
 
Last edited:
prof. genki said:
Would it make sense to get 1333Mhz ram then? Or if I do get 1600, get a board that makes use of of all it?
Click to expand...

Looking at the prices, you may as well get the 1600Mhz RAM especially if you do get the Z77 board which can make use of that speed RAM.
 
stulid said:
Looking at the prices, you may as well get the 1600Mhz RAM especially if you do get the Z77 board which can make use of that speed RAM.
Click to expand...

Ok that makes sense, thanks.

IC3 said:
Heres a benchmark i3 vs g840 http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/405?vs=289


YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Pentium G840 2.80GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £56.99
1 x ASRock H61M/U3S3 Intel H61 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro Motherboard £47.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD38GB1600C11DC) £28.00
Total : £142.87 (includes shipping : £8.25).

Click to expand...

Wow, for nearly double the price the differences aren't huge, especially for gaming, while still being a big improvement over my current setup. Shame it doesn't have a comparison for the 3220 on that site.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom